4 August 2018: French footballer Lucas Digne joins Everton FC on five-year contract
25 July 2018: German footballer Mesut Özil announces retirement from international football over 'racism'
16 July 2018: France beats Croatia 4-2 to win 2018 FIFA World Cup
16 July 2018: FIFA World Cup 2018: Belgium beats England 2-0 to claim third place finish
15 July 2018: English football: Chelsea announces Maurizio Sarri as their head coach

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On Wednesday, English Premier League club Everton FC announced signing French footballer Lucas Digne on a five-year contract from the Spanish LaLiga winners FC Barcelona. The 25-year old Frenchman's contract runs through June 2023.

File photo of Lucas Digne, 2012. Image: Liondartois.
Digne joined FC Barcelona in 2016, from French capital-club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), and since then, the defender has played more than 40 matches for Barcelona. During his tenure at Camp Nou, Digne won one LaLiga title, one Supercopa de España, and two Copa del Rey titles. Prior to playing for the Catalan-club, Digne won two French Ligue 1 titles with PSG. Internationally, Digne has featured in 21 games for France, but he was not a part of last month's FIFA World Cup in Russia.

After signing the contract with the Liverpool-based club, Digne said, "I want to show my best football here and discover the best league in the world. Everybody loves the Premier League. I am loving the fact I am coming here. I am not afraid, I am excited. For me, it is a new challenge to discover a country, a league, people and a great club such as Everton. It is fabulous." Everton's manager Marco Silva said, "It is important to say that he is a player who, from the first moment he was contacted, showed enormous desire to play at Everton".

FC Barcelona reported Everton was to pay € 20.2 million as well as another 1.5 million in variables for Digne's transfer. Before signing the Frenchman, Everton signed Richarlison from Watford FC this season.